Retic with inflamed/swollen face

[terminusthrall]

Hello, I was out of town for the weekend and upon returning home my retic has a swollen muzzle. She likes to rub and push sometimes so she has been a little puffy before and it has always gone down on its own once she calms down. This Looks worse though, and when I opened her mouth up I did not see any discharge, and the color looked ok if a little pale, but her lips have what looks like brown scabby tissue on them. I was unable to get a picture that had anything even remotely clear of the inside of her mouth, but here are some external images. Sorry for the dirty window.





I am concerned about her and because today is a holiday no one is available to see her in my area. Any insight that you guys can provide would be appreciated, thank you.

[PitOnTheProwl]

That looks like a lot of swelling, wish I could be more help.
Are scales missing or is she that puffed?

[Albert Clark]

Wow! That looks pretty serious imho. There are bubbles clearly in the mouth at the front. The face of the animal is very swollen and irritated. The smearing on the glass is indicative of mucus being in the airway. Is the retic still taking food? Either way, its important to make a appointment with the herp vet asap. I think this could be a respiratory infection and a possible stomatitis. Stomatitis is a mouth infection. The animal is very sick imo. Good luck. Try to go in as a emergency bc this whole presentation is affecting her ability to breathe adequately.

[terminusthrall]

I am getting the run around with vets on the peninsula trying to find someone currently. She is missing the middle scale on her upper lip (she rubbed it off while she was in transit to me when she was little, it has been returning slowly since. She has been a little drooly since I recieved her at a year old (coming up on three now) but her breathing has always sounded good and there has been nothing but clear saliva from her that I have ever seen. The swelling all appeared yesterday. Her last feeding was a 10 lb f/t rabbit that she ate three weeks ago without incident, we were just about to pull her next meal to thaw.

Edit: I am at a vets office right now, they keep sending me elsewhere after saying they have someone present to look at her.

[Albert Clark]

OK, It looks very suspicious. If you say and feel its normal then ok. Are the vets thinking of doing any tracheal swab culture ? Or looking at the irritated tissues of the mouth under a microscope?

[terminusthrall]

None have even seen me yet, they say to come in, I show up, and then send me elsewhere. Yeah, she has been strangly drooly since she was little, but it is always thin clear saliva consistency, without any thicker more viscous mucous in her mouth, and she likes to rub/push a bit. I think she is really hungry because of the extra week between feedings I was taking because of a recent step up in rabbit size. She has had some swelling/puffiness before but it has not been this bad and promptly goes away once she mellows out. I was thinking it was possibly stomatitis when I saw it, I do not have any personal experience with it in my animals, but from what I read it is possible. I'm concerned she rubbed a bunch and irritated herself, opening herself up for an opportunistic infection.

[Albert Clark]

Yeah, I hope those vets get to examine her soon. LOL.

[terminusthrall]

Finally got a vet, opened her mouth up and he seemed pretty certain it was an infection and not just iritation from rubbing as I had feared. Dosed her with 9ml of baytril, to be repeated every other day for a total of 5 doses, and suggested rinsing her mouth with clorhexidine. hopefully everything shakes out ok. She is a pretty hefty animal, and she is still alert, inquisitive, and moving well so I think things look good.

[bcr229]

I've found that by getting my adult male out of his enclosure and out into the front yard for exercise for about an hour every other day really helps with the pushing. His face wasn't as messed up as your girl's face but it was definitely a problem.

Also Vetericyn gel reduces the swelling if it's caught early. I spray a bit on my finger and then rub the gum line with it. My retics really hate that so it's a bit of a battle to apply it, but it does work.

[terminusthrall]

Ok, So she has been looking better, and she has been behaving normally. I have been giving her Baytril as prescribed. Unfortunately, She seems to be getting bruising/discoloration around the injection sites. I was not particularly surprised or worried by these, because each injection is 4.5ml, and she gets two every other day. That is a pretty large volume of fluid. Have you guys experienced anything similar when dosing your snakes? Thanks for any information you can give me.